This is unequivocally good news out of Microsoft, which has been doing a lot of damage control on their Xbox brand this summer. A roll out of the console at the Electronic Entertainment Expo that left many video game fans, well, angry was followed by a series of policy reversals and clarifications.

The only real advantage that the series of policy reversals–which culminated this week in news that the console would not require Kinect device be plugged in to work, addressing privacy concerns–undertaken over the past few weeks has been to keep Xbox in the headlines. Rival Sony hasn't had to talk about much, since the general reaction was positive.

There's been no official word on whether or not Holtman's position will cross over with the Xbox brand, but it's not hard to imagine a more unified Microsoft strategy around gaming using his relationships in the game publishing world to the new console's advantage.